Rather than continuing to place my tips and strategies for success in learning organic chemistry in the syllabus for every organic chemistry course I teach, I've decided to present them in this short document.  Because, regardless of the level or your class, the principles behind doing well are always the same.

Right off the bat, let's get a few things straight: 

• studying organic chemistry, which builds on prior knowledge such that early material cannot be forgotten, involves a type of studying you're probably not familiar with and do not know.
• thus, using your studying method will probably not work too well.
• I do know how to study this subject, and I'm not only willing, but anxious to teach you.
• so, ignoring my studying suggestions isn't smart

    Try my suggestions for a month.  Don't just pick and choose which parts sound good; do them all.  If they don't work for you, you're free to go back to your old habits.  In 20 years, I have never had a student go back to their old ways after an honest month of using my suggestions.

The only way to master organic chemistry is by WORKING PROBLEMS!!

    Suggested homework problems are listed at the end of the syllabus, but they will be neither collected nor graded. You should work at least all the problems assigned, giving them an honest effort prior to checking your answers in the solutions manual. Drill sessions with other students are particularly helpful and are strongly encouraged.

      Here are a number of characteristics common to people who do well in organic chemistry, so, unless you did very well during the first semester, you ought to try a few....I guarantee you won't do any worse!

• STUDY EVERY DAY; don't "let it go" with the intention of "catching up" in a few days.  Memory is a chemical process that requires time to assimilate, which is why cramming never, ever works.
  
• study in groups - it keeps you studying if you have a regular study time with other people; it also tests how good your grasp of the material is when you try to explain it to someone else
• copy your lecture notes over soon after each class (but definitely the same day)
  
• use the web page and its many study aids
• do ALL of the suggested problems, and use the provided answers correctly
• use the study guide/key to the textbook, and use it correctly (see below).
• seek help, as soon as you start to struggle, from one of the many free sources
• sleep regularly - being sleep-deprived, staying up all night before an exam = very bad ideas, since they lead to anxiety, nervousness, making careless errors by the dozen, and ultimately the exam score not representing what you really know.
  

      DO NOT FALL BEHIND in your study- it is tempting but disastrous to "let it slide" for a few days with the thought of "catching up" on the weekend. You have probably already discovered that organic chemistry is an accumulative science, and that you cannot build a solid, conceptual understanding on a shaky foundation. Also, organic chemistry is the kind of course for which daily studying is the only real way to do well, since you will build momentum as the semester progresses and it is thus easier to stick with it when more difficult material is being covered.

IF/WHEN YOU GET INTO TROUBLE

       If you are having difficulty with a concept, seek help right away! I am constantly astonished at students' absolute refusal to ask for help even when they are in real trouble and they know it!! Do they think that the light bulb will suddenly go of in their head with no effort on their part? Do they decide to give up, even though there's plenty of time left to turn it around? This is even more mysterious when there are so many sources of good, willing, free help just for the asking! Such aid is available from me (you are always welcome, even if it is not an "official" office hour), your peers, the very good Chemistry Department tutors (free), the web page for this class, other texts, etc.  

    Bottom line: If you don't understand a concept, it's because you haven't availed yourself of the help that's available.  It's no coincidence that it's the students doing badly who I never see in my office.  When I say that organic chemistry isn't difficult, that doesn't mean that you do no work, and it just seeps in via osmosis.  It means that if you put in the effort, it will make sense in a short time, and from that point on it'll all seem easy.

    Is test/studying anxiety destroying your grade, even though you definitely know the material?  You really should make an appointment at the Counseling Center.  They are true masters of beating test anxiety (along with other common roadblocks to doing well), and I have never suggested that a student go see them who as not very impressed, and they have always thanked me for the suggestion.  They're very professional, totally confidential, and will work around your schedule.  Problems like yours are the reason they exist, so give them a chance - you've got so much to gain, and zero to lose!

DOING PROBLEMS (or, "the only way to learn organic chemistry")-

      There's really only one correct way to do problems and use the solutions guide:

• work the problem on your own - no book, notes, music, TV, or other distractions or sources of info.
• check your answer in the solutions manual.

• look at the answer in the guide, paying special attention to the approach that was used to get the answer
• close the guide, get new paper, and again try working the problem on your own

• study the guide's answer again, concentrating on the method used - really try to see how it was done
• on the paper you've been using, copy the answer from the guide - step by step - thinking about what you're writing and why each step is being done.

• me (stop by even if it's not an office hr.; if I'm not there, email me to set up an appointment)
• a Chemistry Department tutor (the schedule is posted around the Dept., and is available here.)
• old quizzes and exams that cover the topic that giving you trouble (people often don't think of this,
but there are dozens of quizzes covering every topic we'll discuss in both CHM 2840 and 2430)
• other web sites (linked from several pages in this web site - and here!)
• classroom peers - get with other folks in the class who seem to have a grasp of the concepts

      So, as you can see, there are many ways to get the help you need.  Please - don't delay asking for help!  Some students are absolute masters of denial, pretending that it's not so bad, that they'll make in up in XX (insert unit of time, usually weeks).  They're like pre-med students, talking about how great med school will be, when they're carrying a 2.8 gpa as a junior.  (Guess what, Jr. - it ain't gonna happen.)

    You must be willing to accept responsibility for your own work, and structure your studying the way that best suits you!  The farther behind you get, the harder it is to get caught up, since you have to stay abreast of what's happening currently, in addition to the remedial problems. I promise always to give you all the help and time that you ask for - but you have to ask!  And please - do not be afraid to ask - I've had students not come in because they're embarrassed about their scores and study habits.  Well, guess what?  I already know these things, and I can help you recover.  So, please DO NOT DELAY until you're going down for the third time!  Come in when you haven't even gone down at all, an we'll nip it in the bud!  Just click the "E-Mail" link, and it's all downhill from there!!